Big Water Film Festival - Bay Theater - Ashland - Wisconsin

14th Annual Festival for 2021 Will Be Free and Online
See our News section below for more information
  • home slider 25
  • home slider 24
  • home slider 21
  • home slider 22
  • home slider 20
  • home slider 13
  • home slider 12
  • home slider 11
  • home slider 10
  • home slider 9
  • home slider 8
  • home slider 7
  • home slider 6
  • home slider 5
  • home slider 4
  • home slider 3
  • home slider 2
  • home slider 1

2021 Schedule

COVID has forced us to change plans again.  We ARE having a Festival, just not in person.  Make sure you like or follow us on Facebook to get notifications about our BWFF Films of the Week this Fall and Winter.  Please see more in "News" below.  You can still see our 2019 schedule here.

Sponsorship

Thank you to all our businesses and individuals who have sponsored us in past years!  We are not actively seeking sponsors this year, but we will still have expenses.  If you are able to help, we would definitely appreciate your financial support.  For more information on sponsorships, please click here.  Please see more in the "News" section, below.

Volunteer

Since we are not having an in-person Festival this year, we don't need volunteers this year. But we'd love to have you volunteer for the 2022 Festival.  To put your name on our volunteer list, please click here. We'll get in touch with you.  It's fun to volunteer at BWFF, and you get to see free films!  Please see more in "News," below.

Want to submit a film?

Film submissions for 2021 are now closed, while the Big Water Committee reviews films submitted ini both 2020 and 2021 for inclusion in this year's on-line Festival.  To see about submitting a film for 2022, please go to our FilmFreeway listing by clicking here.  We will open the site for submittals for 2022 early in 2022.  Our Film Freeway site has more information.  Also, please see more in "News," below.

News

2021 On-line Festival.

COVID has forced us to change our plans again.  Last year we cancelled the Festival altogether; this year we are not letting that happen, but we will be doing things differently.

The Big Water Committee is reviewing all of the films submitted for both the 2020 and 2021 Festivals (that’s a lot of films), and will be making Festival selections, just like always.  Starting in late Fall and going through mid-Winter, we will then post links on Facebook to our BWFF Films of the Week.  We’ll include blurbs about the films and, where available, still photos and trailers for them, so that you can decide what you’d like to watch.

We promise:  we’ll have the same great selection of films as we’ve always had.  And keep in mind that filmmakers have had the same year and a half of isolation that the rest of us have had and would love to have people see the work that they spent so much time and money and heart on.

All you need to do to watch the films is click on the link.  The Festival will be totally free this year, and you can even attend in your pajamas.

Make sure you have “liked” us or are following us on Facebook in order to get notifications of our weekly postings.

Later in the year we’ll announce the winners in all of our film categories, except for Audience Favorite.  With this year’s format, we can’t easily implement a fair way to count your votes.

We really do hope that in 2022 we will all be able to gather again with friends to watch films and meet the filmmakers who made them, but until then we hope you enjoy this year’s films.

 

2019 Awards:  The 12th Big Water Film Festival is in the books!  Thanks to everyone (filmmakers, volunteers, sponsors, and audience members) who made it happen.  Here are this year’s award winners:
Best Feature and Audience Favorite: Love Them First, Lindsey Seavert and Ben Garvin
Best Documentary: From Seed to Seed, Katharina Steiffenhofer
Best Short: Wanted:Strong Woman, Marilyn Cooke
Best Short-Short: Fairy Tail, Justin and Kristin Schaack
Loren Savitsky Young Filmmaker Award: , Ouroboros, Emma Keehan
Honorable Mention: Fraser Syndrome and Me, Kyle Anne Grendys
Congratulations!
Check out our new ticket sales page.  We’ve made purchasing tickets online very easy, and you can now purchase tickets online for all sites.
Special thanks to the Ashland Foundation for funding the purchase of a spotlight for our use at the Bay Theater.  Filmmakers will no longer have to answer questions in the dark!
The schedule is up!
Our 2019 Schedule is posted! Our film descriptions are also posted.
New venues!
Our Bayfield showings are moving from the Bayfield Carnegie Library to the more spacious environs of the Bayfield High School Library.  We hope this will give our audience more room to enjoy the films.  Thanks to Blair and the City Library for their support these past years, and thanks to the Bayfield School District for welcoming us to their campus.
And remember that as of last year we are having screenings again in Washburn, at the Harbor View Event Center.  Special thanks to our Washburn sponsors who are helping to make this happen:  Ron’s Repair and Towing, Washburn Family Dentistry, and Olson Building Supplies.

 

Follow us on Facebook to receive other updates.

Thank You to Our Sponsors:

Thank you to our Reception sponsors!  Ashland Baking Company, Benoit Cheese Haus, Chequamegon Food Coop, CoCo Artisan Breads and Good Eats, DaLou’s Bistro, Deep Water Grille , Hugo‘s Pizza, Maggie’s, North Coast Coffee, Pizza Pub, and The Snug.  

Thanks to our Festival sponsors for your support!

Director


Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce
1716 West Lake Shore Drive
Ashland WI 54806
715.682.2500
www.visitashland.com

Cinematographer


Wild Rivers Chapter of Trout Unlimited
604 Riverside Dr
Hurley, Wisconsin 54534
(715) 561-3098

Special Effects


Fiorio Wealth Advisors
317 West Main Street/ PO Box 844
Ashland, WI 54806
715-682-8439
www.fioriowealthadvisors.com

Special Effects


Choice Title LLC
320 West Main Street
Ashland, WI 54806
715.682.3333

Special Effects


Lange Creative Services
Catherine Lange
Ashland, Wisconsin
708.275.8868
www.langecomm.com

Director

SECURA/AIS Insurance Services
PO Box 498
Ashland, WI 54806
715-682-6197

Cinematographer


Stone's Throw
40 South 2nd Street
Bayfield, WI
715.779.5200
www.stonesthrowbayfield.com

Special Effects


Northern State Bank
321 Main Street West
Ashland, WI 54806
715.682.2772
www.nsbashland.com

Special Effects


Olson Building Materials
19 W Bayfield St
Washburn, WI 54891
(715) 373-2686

Director


Anonymous

Cinematographer


Anthony Jennings & Crew Real Estate
106 Main St W
Ashland WI 54806
715.209.6841
http://www.aijennings.com

Special Effects


BMO Harris Bank
100 Main Street East
Ashland WI 54806
715.682.3422
www.bmoharris.com

Special Effects


Associated Bank
221 4th Avenue West
Ashland WI 54806
715.682.9371
www.associatedbank.com

Special Effects


Solstice Outdoors
2521 West Lake Shore Drive
Ashland, Wisconsin 54806
715.682.3590
http://www.solsticeoutdoorstore.com

Cinematographer


Harbor View Event Center
130 Harbor View Dr
Washburn, WI 54891
715-373-5674
www.harborviewwashburn.com

Special Effects


Ron's Repair and Towing
77655 State Highway 13
Washburn, WI 54891
715.373.2030
 

Special Effects

Washburn Family Dentistry
16 E Bayfield St
Washburn, WI 54891
715-372-4860
http://www.washburndentistry.com

Special Effects

Haukaas Law Office
Superior Representation
200 Chapple Ave
Ashland, WI 54806
715-685-1001
http://www.haukaaslaw.com